UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) — China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Fu Cong, on Thursday called on Japan to conduct deep reflection on its historical crimes as a defeated country of World War II, honor its political commitments on the Taiwan question, and immediately cease provocative actions that undermine the post-war international order.
Speaking at a UN General Assembly high-level plenary meeting marking the first International Day Against Colonialism in All Its Forms and Manifestations, Fu said that despite the formal end of colonial systems, the world has yet to fully emerge from the legacy and harm of colonialism. He urged the international community to firmly oppose any rhetoric or actions that challenge or seek to subvert the post-war international order, stressing that the purpose of the International Day Against Colonialism is to remember the suffering caused by colonial rule, advance decolonization, and eliminate colonialism in all its forms.“The history of the World Anti-Fascist War teaches us that peace must be actively pursued and safeguarded,” Fu said. He noted that after World War II, the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg and the International Military Tribunal for the Far East ensured accountability for those responsible for wars of aggression. “The justice and integrity of these trials are unassailable and beyond challenge,” he emphasized.
Recalling history, Fu said Japan carried out aggression and imposed colonial rule in China, the Korean Peninsula, and Southeast Asia, committing widespread atrocities. In Taiwan, he said, Japanese aggressors killed more than 650,000 people, forcibly recruited around 200,000 youths into the military, coerced over 2,000 women into sexual slavery as so-called “comfort women,” occupied about 70 percent of the land, and exploited natural resources such as coal and gold mines.“This was the darkest chapter in Taiwan’s history,” Fu said, calling on the international community to resolutely uphold the outcomes of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, as well as the post-war international order. He warned against any denial or distortion of aggression history, the revival of militarism, or the repetition of historical tragedies, noting that actions challenging the post-war order risk global instability and immense suffering for humanity.
